Cassoulet

Lore & Background

Cassoulet is a rich, slow-cooked stew that originated in southern France, specifically in the town of Castelnaudary in the Aude department of the Occitanie region. The food writer Elizabeth David described it as a sumptuous blend of haricot beans, sausage, pork, mutton, and preserved goose, seasoned with garlic and herbs. While the dish is now defined by the haricot bean as its principal ingredient, medieval versions of the stew used broad beans instead.

The name "cassoulet" is a diminutive of the Languedoc word cassolo, meaning a cooking pot, though Elizabeth David traces it to "Cassol d'Issel," the original clay baking pot from the nearby town of Issel. Traditionally, the dish is cooked in an earthenware pot called a cassole or toupin. The composition of a cassoulet varies by local tradition, with towns such as Castelnaudary, Carcassonne, and Toulouse each claiming authentic versions. The Castelnaudary cassoulet typically includes pork in various forms, while the Carcassonne version features leg of mutton and sometimes partridge.

The Toulouse cassoulet adds Toulouse sausage and mutton, along with duck or goose. A common feature across most recipes is a sprinkling of breadcrumbs to form a crust on the surface. The dish is considered nourishing country fare rather than haute cuisine, and it is traditional to deglaze the pot from a previous cassoulet to form the base for the next one.

Reader's Guide

Traditionally, the dish is cooked in an earthenware pot, which Jane Grigson notes is correctly called a cassole or toupin; she adds that any earthenware or stoneware casserole will do, 'provided it is deep and wide'. The authors of Mastering the Art of French Cooking write, 'The composition of a cassoulet is, in typical French fashion, the subject of infinite dispute ... arguments about what should go into this famous dish seem based on local traditions'. Although haricot beans are common to all varieties, the meats vary considerably.

The Michelin Guide comments that every town brings its own personal touch to the recipe. Beck, Bertholle and Child comment that regardless of local custom, an extremely good cassoulet can be made anywhere out of beans with 'whatever traditional meats are available: goose, game, pork, sausages, lamb, mutton'. To this list, David adds turkey legs or wings, and Grigson adds partridges.

In 1996, the Etats généraux de la gastronomie traditionnelle française specified the following proportions for cassoulet: at least 30 per cent pork (which can include sausage and Toulouse sausage), mutton or preserved goose; and up to 70 per cent haricot beans and stock, fresh pork rind, herbs and flavourings. Prosper Montagné divided the main varieties of cassoulet into 'the Trinity', according to the meats used: the 'Father' being the cassoulet from Castelnaudary, the 'Son' the cassoulet from Carcassonne and the 'Holy Ghost' that from Toulouse. The Castelnaudary cassoulet contains pork (loin, ham, leg, sausages and fresh rind) and in some recipes preserved goose. The Carcassonne version uses leg of mutton and, when in season, partridge.

The Toulouse cassoulet uses smaller quantities of the same meats used in Castelnaudary but adds Toulouse sausage and mutton and also duck or goose, according to Larousse, or partridge, according to Grigson. Other variants include the Montaubon cassoulet, spiced with tomato purée; the food historian Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat observes that it 'would be sacrilege to make cassoulet in Corbières without lightly salted pig's tail and ears'; and Larousse records a fish cassoulet, made with salt cod replacing the duck or goose. Common to most recipes for cassoulet is a sprinkling of breadcrumbs, to form a crust on the surface of the dish.